Hi From Oxford, UK

[Charles Jenkinson]

Oh, he's authorized alright.

It's at the top of the Everything Else threads. I haven't read it.

[HugoMack]

I can see why it does that.... Thanks for the ref.

I never knowingly not know about a fellow author......

[Chris_Allen]

Here are my DR's on my speaker stand thread:

http://billfitzmaurice.info/forum/viewt ... =2&t=20018

[Oxonjohn]

Hi Hugh,

I've reposted this from my thread you posted in as you seem to have settled in this one now!

I'm in Bampton, not too far away. I'm afraid I've not built any BFM PA cabs that you can hear yet (just an XF210 guitar cab which I'm still to use in anger), although I've heard Charles' Jack 12 lites and they sound great. I'm planning some Jack 10 lites for pub gigs for a side project blues trio I play in, but I'm unlikely to get started for a while yet. In my main band we currently use a pair of Peavey Hisys which have served us well, but they are big and heavy compared to the Jacks, and we're not getting any younger! I'm not planning any subs as we generally use house PA at bigger gigs (we're playing Fat Lil's in Witney on Saturday if you are at a loose end), and we have some EV Eliminator tops and subs for the odd occasion when we need them.

There is a registered builder somewhere around Oxford (Tom Caswell) who I think uses DR250s in his band so it may be worth looking him up. It's definitely worth getting the full set of plans (Bill will send these by email rather than CD if you ask).

Look forward to seeing your progress.

John

[HugoMack]

Chris: I'd seen your lighting rail mod pics earlier - cool! The cabs look er - well... well-made! What's in them?

Thanks for moving over to this thread John - I've been responding to the BFM email notification system.... is your band Freefall?

I'll get the rest of the plans sent, as I like poring over speaker designs! I'm thinking to just get on with making some J12Ls.... However if DR's produce a decent result on their own for vocals and a bit of kick, that does tempt me I have to say....

[Oxonjohn]

Hi Hugh,

Yes, that's us. BashBand look great - more 'function friendly' than we are!

I'm amazed that Chris's DR200s are still for sale. They look very tidy and I thought they'd have been snapped up. May be worth a look unless, like most people here, much of your motivation is actually to make something yourself.

Didn't know about the notification system - I'll have to start using that myself.

Have fun here.

John

[HugoMack]

Thanks John. The BashBand have been going more than 20 years!

At the moment, I'm looking to replace the Eon 15's, rather than indulge my cabinet-building cravings.... So if a set of DR200's would do the job on their own, that's an option.

[Grant Bunter]

DR's are not full range cabs per se.

Since you would be buying cabs built by someone else it would depend on how they were constructed as to whether optional (temporary) ducts could be inserted to lower cab tuning.

The older and newer DR200 plans I have don't specify lowest tuning with 2 x 4" ports.
And using them with the long ports reduces power handling, the usual caveat is "in low power situations".

In the DR250 plans, the dual 4" port option allows the cab to go down to 45Hz at about 20V max (instead of the usual 40V without extended ports).

[HugoMack]

Thanks Grant.

Looking at my DR200 plans (just downloaded), where would the ports be placed?

[Grant Bunter]

Thanks Grant.

Looking at my DR200 plans (just downloaded), where would the ports be placed?

No worries!

If the cabs are built from plans pre March '12, then the ports are at the bottom of the horn sheath.

Your plans I imagine are post March '12 and the ports in those plans are up the top of the horn sheath back from the removeable module.

Read the plans. Under "Tuning Options" it tells you how to make the ports to accept ducts to change tuning...

[Charles Jenkinson]

I'd wondered about how you were EQ'ing your EON's...? In the early stages of having some run of the mill PA, and folks wanting to move towards a scalable BF system, it's normal for a suggestion along the lines of: build a couple of T39's, to take some load off your tops, and use a drive rack PA+ (Or the other DSP offerings) with RTA mic and set up that and see where that gets you.

It's that sub 100hz that makes the full range tops have to work all the harder, where subs hit it with ease, cos it's their band pass. I would think 1 T39 for your smaller gigs would be ample. Chris's BP102 powered 16" T39's we're pulling about 3volts in that video on the previous page. Unless a band is Americana instrumentation, I don't really get using just full range tops only, especially for a rock band - subs make perfect sense. My understanding (but not from experience) is that one can't EQ that umph into generic 15" full rangers, unless they're only carrying vocals, and back line is sufficient for kick and bass.

There are of course other reasons for dispensing with standard 15" full rangers (I.e. Distortion and internal cab/port midrange reflections - some of that improves by use of subs) but if you're wanting a scalable system; to eventually 'go large', starting with swapping out the tops doesn't carry the bigger weight of argument for me. ...Tops end up close on the heels of subs with DSP and Auto-EQ, however.

[HugoMack]

Thanks Grant. I'll take a close look.

Clear thinking Charles. My looking at the J12L was for both lightness and quality. I'm EQ'ing the Eons with a 32 band only. It's hard to get rid of the harshness, so you make a lot of sense suggesting a Driverack. I'll have a good think about the subs. How do they go down low in a small room?

[HugoMack]

- your video (thanks) answered my question! They work really well with the vol down low.

With the Eons, for a bigger venue I have a JBL powered sub with an 18" straight reflex cab, and a crossover that feeds the Eons. That makes it all sound a lot better.

But I was thinking along the lines of the J12L's giving me a more full range sound for pubs, saving having to bring the JBL sub (which I've now stopped bringing to most gigs).

[Grant Bunter]

It depends on Which model Eons you have.

With Jacks you can certainly stack them, and spiral them relative to each other to increase horizontal dispersion. This reduces your cab footprint a lot. Very handy for small gigs.
While some don't much like their sound, the piezo based melded arrays won't have (as much of) that harshness, more bright and smooth.

I don't think you should ever expect chest thumping kick drum from full range cabs. You need to reach 110dB from 50-70Hz to get that. That to me is asking quite a bit from full range cabs. I reckon as long as you run full range cabs basically as vocal PA (plus a dribble of kick just for a little presence and acoustic guitar if you guys have that) with on stage balancing of the rest of the instruments, it's all good. If drummers can tune well and know their gear, there can be a lot of projection with the kick drum, but IMO (as a drummer), that projection quickly gets swallowed up once you begin to approach even moderate volumes.

If you can stack your Eons (those that have the face plate bigger than the rest of the cab have always made my scratch my head), try putting HF to HF, ie the top cab upside down.
That will improve HF somewhat...

edit: I reckon you could build a pair of Jacks for about the retail of a new Eon 15. Once done, sell your Eons

[HugoMack]

I've got the older Eons - about six-seven years old.

I don't follow your interesting point about turning them upside down... I've only got two...